15.3.09

Overcoming OCD










Whatever the cause of your OCD, it is worth restating that, for most people, OCD can be effectively overcome. Future research may reveal that different types of treatments or techniques, but for the moment there is very little research to guide such questions.

When it comes to change, the 'cognitive' in cognitive behavior therapy refers to changing the meaning of intrusive thoughts and urges; 'behavior' means altering the way you respond to the obsessions. CBT will also try to help the person overcome other attitudes, such as the need for certainty taht nothing bad will happen, and to alter the criteria they may use to terminate a compulsion (e.g. 'when I feel comfortable' or 'when it's just right') standards that will tend to maintain a compulsion.

If you are unsuccessful on your own, then don't give up: you can always seek professional help.If CBT is done formally then at least three-quarters of people can be helped substantially. If this does not work either, then you can always try adding medication, which can help the same proportion of people with OCD. So at the present the prospects are good; and in the future, if the necessary funding is devoted to research, there is every chance that further progress will be made in the psychological understanding of OCD, and that further improvements in therapy will follow.